INF506 MODULE 1 : Web 2.0, Social networking and the social life of information

Still feeling lost about del.icio.us, twitter and RSS feeds - but improving with facebook. My attitude towards FB has definitely improved since starting this subject. I now feel more confident and keen to check in on what new comments are being posted for this subject and also to have friends to catch up with in my personal life. Kind of still wondering how FB can be applied to a a library setting and is it worth it for a school library?

The readings are helping me get more of a grip on the importance of social networking for a library. At this point I think that blogging, clouds and wikis would be good to implement into our library for building interactive communication between parents, students , teachers and our library. From listening to the Charlene Li podcast, I believe that our library needs to become more transparent and reachable - using social media tools. At the moment, I think we have become too cut off. Our initial readings are impacting my perspective on where our library is at and where we need to go in terms of accessibilty and equity to our client group. This is a huge shift in my knowledge, but I do are the attitudes of other team members of not letting go of the past - the way things have worked so far and also restrictions by IT staff in letting us incorporate some of the SN tools into our library website.

The Charlene Li podcast was very long and I found I needed to break it up, take notes and listen to it twice to start taking it in. Once I got into it, there was a lot I could apply to the library setting. Her comments on how SN is re-writing how business is done really resonated because I fear we are becoming stuck with what was a successful model and now we have to update our attitude and work practice in how we present and interact with the current students and teachers - all who are into facebook, twitter, using RSS, following blogs. Sadly, the library is not part of that at the moment. I want to learn how to fix this by doing this subject.

I also really liked the You tube clip about how we are changing in how we communicate. It was interesting about why I liked this and I think it is because I liked the background music and the quick snatch information headlines. This appealed to two senses and helped it stick in my mind. Something to bear in mind when preparing information presentation to the school community. The clip really had a quite profound effect on my view of how important social media now is to a great percentage of our society.


USEFUL REFERENCES

Web 2.0 and folksonomies in a library context

http://www.mendeley.com/research/web-20-and-folksonomies-in-a-library-context/ -

"Libraries have a societal purpose and this role has become increasingly important as new technologies enable organizations to support, enable and enhance the participation of users in assuming an active role in the creation and communication of information".

Charlene Li podast - http://blogs.talis.com/nodalities/2009/11/charlene-li-the-impact-of-social-media-in-your-organisation.php

Youtube Social media clip in module notes

Useful info for types of social media

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredcavazza/2564571564/sizes/m/in/photostream/

INF506 assessment 1

DEFINING SOCIAL NETWORKING
Social networking involves online communication in which many users can contribute to conversation and /or the publication of information on a topic of common interest within a forum that best supports the purpose. This can utilise various forms of media such as videos or photos or the publication of information in written form. Participating in online communities enables users to share knowledge, interests and relationships and contributes to the development of information which can be shared by many and also increases the sense of community as our society embraces the use of the World Wide Web to serve our various needs.

NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES I USE
Up until now, I believed that I used very few social networking tools. However, after initial readings in the subject modules, I realised that I regularly use email in my work and initiated and maintain a school library blog. In my personal life I use online banking, shop online, skype with family members and sometimes dip into You Tube for information and for fun. Since establishing a face book account for this subject, I have also realised that it is a valuable tool for maintaining relationships.

EXPECTATIONS FOR INF506
When enrolling for this subject, I anticipated that I would learn how to use face book and raise the profile of our library. In reading the subject content and learning outcomes, I am feeling positive that I will learn about the various forms of social networking and then be able to develop a more prominent and current format for our school library. I am also looking forward to learning about how to accurately incorporate social media developments into our policy.